Welcome

Welcome to my ever-evolving blog. It started out as a blog on Beachbody workouts and products, mainly when I was a Beachbody coach. I no longer coach, not because I don't believe in Beachbody's programs (I subscribe to Beachbody on Demand and use their workouts every day), I am just not a salesperson and hated that aspect of it. I am more than willing to answer questions about my experiences with their products and the various workouts, and I feel freer to do so without the appearance of giving a biased review of something.

I have also started adding reviews for various things I have purchased like movies, books, CDs, and other products. This was brought about by a fight with Amazon in which all of my reviews were removed over a completely bullshit allegation that I posted a review that violated their terms of service. After going back and forth with the morons in the community-reviews department (even after they admitted that my posts did not violate their guidelines) they restored my account (which took them six months to do), but I have been posting my reviews on my blog to have them preserved in case something like that happens again. And here, I will post uncensored reviews so I will swear from time to time and post reviews that may be longer than Amazon's character limit. Everything I post here on any topic or product is my personal opinion, and I take no compensation for any product reviews I post. I am a member of Amazon's vine program and because I get those products for free, I keep those reviews on Amazon only, but everything I have purchased with my own money, whether from Amazon or some other store/website/outlet, I will post here.  

I also plan to do some longer blog posts on various topics, such as how to learn physics, how to get through calculus, and longer reviews of workout programs as I do them. Basically, whatever strikes me as interesting at the time.  As you can see if you navigate around the blog, I had many years in between postings. During that time I was going back to school to get an engineering degree, and learning material that I avoided my first time through college was a different experience and one that gave me a lot of insight into how to do well in those classes, which I will try to impart here for those who are looking to get a science or engineering degree. 

Saturday, September 7, 2024

4k-UHD/Movie Review: Barbie

 


Barbie is a 2023 comedy written and directed by Greta Gerwig starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling. Robbie (who was also a producer) stars as Barbie (or "stereotypical Barbie"), the perfect blonde version of Barbie, and Gosling plays that version of Ken. There are also the different versions of Barbie and Ken who are played by actors such as Emma Mackey, Simu Liu, Hari Nef, Issa Rae, Alexandra Shipp, Nicola Coughlan, Kingsley Ben-Adir, Ritu Arya, Dua Lipa, and John Cena. Michael Cera plays Allen (the only version of the other male doll in the Barbie world), and Helen Mirren is the narrator. Rhea Perlman plays Ruth Handler, the creator of Barbie. America Ferrera plays Gloria, an employee of Mattel, and Ariana Greenblatt plays her moody teenage daughter, Sasha. The main cast is rounded out by Will Ferrell, who plays the CEO of Mattel, and Kate McKinnon, who plays "Weird Barbie," who is the version of Barbie who has been played too hard. 

The main storyline is that Robbie's Barbie starts to not be perfect anymore and has to go from Barbieland into the real world to find the person who is playing with her (whose emotions she is beginning to feel). Ken ends up going with her and finds that the real world is ruled by men. When he returns to Barbieland, the Kens take over, and Barbie, Gloria, and Sasha have to get Barbieland back to the way it was. 

The 4K release is a single-disc release, just containing the UHD disc. Unlike most 4K releases, this does not have a regular Blu-Ray. There are just under an hour's worth of extras consisting of several behind-the-scenes featurettes on everything from the casting to the costume designs. This is a much different movie than people may expect. Yes, it is a comedy (sometimes a dark comedy). Still, it gets very dramatic and makes a point about the roles of men and women in society, relationships, growing up, and the like, all in an absurdly funny storyline. There is a hilarious battle between the various Kens at the end of the movie that starts out as a battle on the beach with volleyballs and tennis rackets and turns into a dance battle. It is well-written and very well-acted. The writers hilariously break the fourth wall a couple of times and include some great jokes about Barbie and Ken's lack of genitals. All of the actors are great in their various roles, but Gosling steals every scene he is in. It is a movie that absolutely should not have worked as well as it does, but is it great and is absolutely worth watching.

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